Downtown Minneapolis and Skyway Guilt

I love this city. I really do. But sometimes it's hard to love Minneapolis.

Working downtown, for example, has its ups and downs. It's a friendly city, with respectable public transportation and a farmer's market in the heart of downtown on Thursdays during the summer. In the cold, harsh winters, there's a maze of skyways connecting the buildings so you never have to step outside until it's time to catch your bus home.

The drawback to this wonderful, "Minne"-Utopia (forgive the pun) is that it's far too easy to find unhealthy food when the mood strikes you.

I've been trying this week to be mindful of the foods I'm eating. At Subway for lunch yesterday, I went for the chicken breast with honey mustard sauce rather than the tuna drowning in mayo or the greasy meatball sub. It was quite tasty, in fact (really: lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and spinach make great sandwich-toppers, especially when combined with that honey mustard sauce). For dinner, I had a leafy green salad with my mini pizza so that I could at least pretend to be eating from more than one food group.

I've been very good, in general lately, about eating a banana and a granola bar every morning for breakfast. Usually this satisfies me. Today, though, was a little odd. I wanted to keep eating after the banana and granola bar were gone. I wanted something savory and delicious.

I knew exactly what I wanted - a sausage, egg and cheese bagel from the Bruegger's in the next building.

I thought for a moment. Do I really need this? Do I really want this? Will anyone notice if I dash out for a moment? Yes, yes, and no were the answers to those questions.

I got my bagel sandwich. And it was delicious.

And then came the guilt. I have decided to call it "Skyway Guilt." If I had to go outside (even on a nice day) to get this bagel, I know I wouldn't have gone. But because the skyway was there, it was easy to get to the building across the street. No traffic worries or weather woes. Just a hop, skip, and a jump away and I was back before my screensaver kicked on.

The challenge now is to hold off on these urges for the rest of the week, and hopefully continuing after that. If I'm going to have any success with making myself healthier, I can't be eating bagel sandwiches every morning. Especially if it takes no effort whatsoever to get them.